Lawrence Bachmeier
Lawrence Michael Bachmeier (June 23, 3538 - March 4, 3629) was a Rutanian politician who served two terms as the President of Rutania, being the first from the UPR in over 400 years. Prior to becoming President, Bachmeier served as his party's leader of their youth wing for 13 years. Many have questioned whether or not his selection to be the party's nominee was legitimate, given how much influence the Bachmeier Family has had over the party's affairs over the years. After leaving the Presidency, Bachmeier was appointed as Rutania's Ambassador to the Artanian Union (AU). Bachmeier would go on to serve as the leader of his party. =Personal Life= =Early Life & Career= =Presidency= First Term Bachmeier was inaugurated on January 30th, 3589 and immediately got to work on a plan to reform the economy. In an interview with Commonwealth Magazine two weeks into his administration, he stated his biggest job was to fix the economy. "My biggest job is to undo the damage that the Libertarians have done. Yes they grew the economy and we're thankful for that, but they left us in a recession with their careless cuts and unreal fetish for privatization. This doesn't sit well with me or the Rutanian people." Leaders from his party met with him in February and hashed out what they wanted in the bill. It would be 17 months of negotiations and then parliamentary debate before it was put to a vote in June 3590. The bill, titled the Economic Reform Act of 3589, passed with support from the Nationalist Party and was responsible for the creation of the National Pension Network, a private pension system set to come on line in 3592 that will allow citizens access to a private pension system. The bill also allowed the use of eminent domain to complete important government projects, restricted collective bargaining rights and reduced the luxury tax to 5%. Bachmeier had drawn fire from all sides for his support of rolling back the flat tax and his banishment and prohibition of unions. The Left had especially been a harsh critic and painted Bachmeier as nothing more than a shill for big-business. Second Term Bachmeier was reelected to a second term, securing more than 71% of the vote, becoming the first president from his party to be reelected. Bachmeier indicated his goal of pushing forward on a comprehensive overhaul of the federal government, a plan he did not get to during his first term. He has also expressed interest in hopefully opening up Rutania back to the international circuit as well through the use of trade agreements. He was largely successful in his goals, but was not able to get his overhaul of the government done. He left the presidency with approval ratings in the high 60s. =Post-Presidency and AU Ambassadorship= After leaving the Presidency, Bachmeier attempted to returned to the private life, but ultimately found it challenging, often joking, "he wasn't old enough to find retirement exciting yet". In 3598, he returned back to the political scene, albeit on a much lower profile as a political consultant. On January 15, 3599, Bachmeier became the first Ambassador to the AU after being appointed by Keira Hunt, the President of Rutania. Bachmeier will serve in the position for 5 years as Rutania's permanent representative to the organization. On April 3, 3601, he proclaimed his desire to return to politics following the end of his tenure as the AU Ambassador. However, he did not make it clear what he wanted to do and many think he may run again for President. Bachmeier would rule out a run for President in October of that same year and seven months later was elected as the 43rd leader of the Urban Party. He served as party leader until 3619. =Election Results= !colspan=5 align=center|President of Rutania |- !align=center|Year !align=center|Votes !align=center|% !align=center|Outcome !align=center|Result |- |align=center|3589||20,784,028||59.07%||align=center|1st||align=center|Won |- |align=center|3593||42,889,341||71.44%||align=center|1st||align=center|Won |- |} Category:UPR Politicians